Lectionary for Epiphany 6
Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Happy are those who observe God’s decrees, and seek God with their whole heart. Psalm 119:1-2
Collect. Let us pray (that everything we do will be guided by God’s law of love): God our Father, you have promised to remain for ever with those who do what is just and right. Help us to live in your presence. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reading. (Today the readings are so linked together that we will look at the Old Testament reading and also the epistle for the week)
Deuteronomy 30:15-20. The title given to the book, “Deuteronomy” means second Law. In Deuteronomy Moses is re presenting the laws and ordinances that are to be fulfilled in order to honour The Lord God and be obedient to God’s way of living. In our section for today Moses is summing up all that has gone before, ending up by saying to the people, “Today I set before you Life and death” To obey God and keep faithful to him will bring life. To fail to obey will bring disaster. Often as you read the story of Israel it seems quite violent and blood thirsty but here in Deuteronomy we see that the destiny of God’s people was in one sense always in their hands. The way to life and prosperity was through keeping faith with God. If you read psalm 106 you find a snapshot of God’s relationship with the people. When you realise that the time frame for that history is about 1500 years it becomes clear that despite God’s love and miraculous care the people were wilfully disobedient. Rather than seeing how violent their history was we might rather marvel at how faithful, forgiving and patient God was. God chose and called Abraham and established a family. Though they prospered they also acted deceitfully and ended up as oppressed slaves in Egypt. It was from there that God lead them out and set them free in a land of their own. Over a 1000 years they had gone from obscurity to being a prosperous international kingdom under the leadership of David. Through failing to be faithful to God 500 years later this kingdom was so depleted that the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the people that remained were sent off to exile in Babylon. Yet God in his faithfulness once more brought them back to Jerusalem 70 years later in preparation for the coming of the Saviour who would finally fulfil God’s promise to establish them once more as his people.
Reading. 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. Paul is encouraging the Christian congregation in Corinth to be more spiritual or we might say to live more truly in obedience to the ways of Jesus Christ, rather than to the ways of the world or the society in which they were placed. (In some ways it is a re-statement of last week’s Gospel reading that Christians are to be salt and light in their world!) Paul is describing a congregation that is no longer working together as a whole but is struggling with each other for power and privilege. It is this vying with each other that alerts Paul to their failure to keep Jesus Christ at the centre of all they do and say. He is reminding the Christians that no one is worthy but all are effective only through the gifts of God. Different people have different gifts but all are called to work together under the leadership of Jesus. Everyone who is in leadership is called to work together in harmony with each other. Paul reminds the congregation that all are working together to plant the crop in God’s field or build God’s building. Every congregation has and needs a Paul or an Apollos and we should also add a Priscilla and Aquila for each congregation needs both women and men to lead. However as we think of our own congregations and we are longing to be more spiritual, then if we follow Paul’s advice what we need to do be ready to work together in harmony. It is our harmony that declares both to us and to those who do not belong to the congregation that Jesus Christ is the true leader here and we all are willing to acknowledge his choices of both leaders and the direction our congregation takes. As Moses said long ago, “here we have set before us life and prosperity, death and destruction” and the hinge on which these two swing is faithfulness and obedience to the Lord God.
Prayer. Lord we long to believe fully in you and in what you have done for us. We long to believe or we would not be on this quest. We long to be fruitful in our work and witness else we would not be prepared to call ourselves a part of your church. Yet Lord you know that we are at best weak and easily distracted. Hold us close to you, take our hand and walk with us that we will keep to your plan despite our doubts and our inadequate ways. Lift us above the humanness that holds us back that we may see that we are empowered by you and through the Holy Spirit we can be more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Sovereign Lord, we live in an ever-changing world a world in which we often feel under pressure. .As all things change help us to more firmly trust in you the one who never changes. Help us to think beyond ourselves to those whose needs are far greater than our own. So today we pray for those whose worlds have been torn apart by war; those who have to live with the ever-present danger of oppression and violence; we pray for those who face the threat each day of hunger and must spend each waking moment searching for food for themselves and their families. In the face of changes like these Lord God we realise how fortunate we are, so keep us from self-pity and let us face life with new enthusiasm and a true sense of the blessing that we have. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Reading. Matthew 5:21-37. As we have noted before the chapters and verses in our modern bibles create divisions and sometimes distractions which were not in the original manuscripts. With that in mind we need to remember that Jesus has just declared that the one who breaks even the least of the commandments is not worthy of the kingdom. Now in this section of Matthew’s gospel Jesus begins to announce the Law and then immediately amends it. This represents a unique event, never before had a teacher dared to reframe the Law. Jesus is claiming to have the authority to re-present the Law with a new all encompassing standard. We have little understanding of how radical this announcement of the Law really was. The Law was so revealed that to begin worship in the synagogue the scroll of the Law was taken from the Ark at the front of the building and paraded through the gathered congregation to signify that the Law, the Torah was central to everything they did in worship and in life.
Here in Matthew’s gospel Jesus begins each phrase with “you have heard it said” referring to the teaching of the ancient leaders but then adds, “But I say to you”.
Thus Jesus was claiming the authority to change the very basis on which the Jewish faith was based. Not only that, Jesus description of the Law was more far reaching than ever before. Jesus’ interpretation of the Law shows that it is not only what a person does but also what a person thinks that can either fulfil or break the Law. Two things emerge from this and that is that no one is exempt from breaking the Law, while on the other hand only God can judge who is or who is not guilty of being a Law breaker. Things get even more difficult when Jesus goes on to say that even holding a thought against a brother or sister is to leave one unreconciled. More importantly the unreconciled person had to be the one to seek reconciliation. To be unreconciled with someone makes it impossible to present your gift to God. The thought being that if you are in the wrong with a brother or sister the onus is on you to admit the fault and seek to be reconciled. When you hold something against your brother or sister you remain unreconciled towards God.
Throughout this section of scripture we see absolutes that we have not recognised but instead have learned to tolerate. If we think back to the statement Moses presented to the people as he reiterated the consequences of failing to keep the Law, it is then we begin to understand how impossible keeping the Law really is. It is no wonder that Paul, one of the great scholars of the Law should say, “Who will deliver me from this body leading to death?” (Romans 7:24) Then immediately say, “thanks be to God for Jesus is the one who can achieve my rescue!”(Romans 7:25) Truly we could say that without Jesus we have no hope but as we trust in the work of Jesus we can have confidence that he has fulfilled to Law perfectly on our behalf. Jesus teaching reminds us that it is only as we rely on Him that we can experience the blessing of God which is so important for a peaceful and fulfilling life.
Prayer. As an opening prayer we will use the Collect for Purity. Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may love you completely, and rightly magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Written in the 7thCentury. Found today in The Book of Common Prayer)
Lord we thank and praise you for Jesus Christ our Saviour who has set us free from the tyranny of the Law and released us into a life fulfilled in every way. He alone is the Way the Truth and the Life and so we continually turn to Him, giving you all thanks and praise for the Salvation that you have established through the cross. By your Holy Spirit keep us firmly in the faith that we may continue until our life’s end, forever giving you honour and glory. We pray in the name of Jesus our Lord and Saviour. Amen.
Collect. Holy God, write your law in our hearts, that we, finding true obedience, may be led by the Spirit of love; in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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